How many times a day to feed a dog?

Many owners of dogs, planting an animal, do not think about the fact that he also put a well-built and balanced diet. As a rule, the dog is fed by what is convenient for the host, absolutely not taking into account the needs of the body, and also when it is convenient for a person with his built schedule. However, conscious owners should understand that eating too often can lead to weight gain by the pet, and rarely can deprive it of the necessary components and energy for natural activity.

There are a lot of breeds in the world, so how to make a diet for your animal?

Feeding rules

With the advent of the puppy in the house, teach him the regime in the first few days. Provide comfortable conditions for eating food (a separate place, comfortable bowls, temperature, lighting, privacy, etc.).

1. Choose a feeding place before purchasing a puppy and do not change it without strict need.
2. The amount of feed should be selected according to age, activity, size of the animal, as well as the frequency of feeding. If you yourself can not determine the optimal serving size, then contact a nutritionist or feed manufacturer, but do not experiment on a dog.
3. The feeding regimen from the first days is advisable to make up hourly and, if possible, strictly adhere to it.
4. Each feeding should contain the same amount of food, even if the dog did not eat the previous portion. Do not leave leftovers on the plate, thereby preventing the animal from knocking down the schedule and eating "unplanned", shifting the subsequent feeding. At the same time observe - if the dog quickly eats the prescribed portion of food and intensively licks the bowl, then the volume of food must be increased.
5. The duration of each feeding should be up to 15 minutes. After the time expires, remove the bowl, regardless of whether the puppy managed to finish everything.
6. Do not feed the animal before a walk or an active game, or immediately after them. Therefore, the schedule of walks and trainings should also be correctly entered into the diet.

How often to feed the dog

First of all, the new owner should ask the breeder or the representative of the club, what kind of food and how often he fed the animal. It is optimal if the baby, after weaning the mother, already has an established and comfortable feeding schedule. If not, you can use the following recommendations.

1. At the age of one month, puppies consume only mother's milk, in which they should not be limited either quantitatively or according to the duration or frequency of feeding.
2. Starting from 1-2 months solid food and water are introduced into the lure, so babies should be fed every 3-4 hours (up to 5-6 feeds per day).
3. By 3 months the number of feedings is reduced to 3-4 depending on the season, the activity of the animal and its growth.
4. Up to six months, transfer the pet to 3 meals a day.
5. Up to a year, the maturing dog is optimally accustomed to 2 single meals.
6. Starting from 1 year, the animal is fed 1-2 times a day, depending on the season, the intensity of walks and trainings, the individual characteristics of the organism, diet, height and body weight. In the case of feeding natural food to dogs of large breeds, it is better to divide the portions into 2 approaches.Small and sedentary pets are fed 1 time per day.
7. Older and sick animals should be fed 3-4 times a day, distributing, respectively, the previously prescribed amount of food.

Separately, it is worth considering feeding the pregnant and lactating bitches. During puppies, the animal may also suffer from toxicosis, which causes a rejection of food, apathy and inactivity, which directly affects the usual schedule of feeding the animal. In the second half of pregnancy, on the contrary, the dog may drastically increase its appetite, so the volume of food and the frequency of feedings will need to be increased according to the needs of the animal (on average 1.5 times). Correctly choose the feeding mode will help the doctor after the examination, weighing the animal, the study of tests. It is very important during this period to control the diet of the female, since the risk of obesity increases, which can cause problems during childbirth, as well as endocrine disruption.

How to estimate the frequency

When it comes to feeding on dry food, some caring manufacturers post data on the approximate volume and frequency of feeding on the product packaging, given the breed, age, activity and build of the animal.As a rule, to determine the norm according to the specified table, the owner needs to weigh the animal correctly.

In the case of naturalka feeding, the frequency of food intake is more difficult to calculate. How to understand whether the animal has enough food? First of all, it is the presence of leftovers in the bowl. In this case, you can either reduce the volume of servings, or increase the frequency of feeding. If there is no food left in the bowl, but the animal has noticeably gained weight, then perhaps you need to either reconsider the diet of the animal, or increase its activity, or reduce the frequency of feeding (all depending on the needs of the body).

It is important to understand that the feeling of fullness from food (especially when it comes to dry food) comes after a certain time. Therefore, do not increase the frequency of feeding, if you thought that the animal did not eat.

Objective reasons for changing the diet can be:

• health status;
• decrease or increase in activity;
• changing weather conditions;
• weight gain or loss;
• pregnancy or estrus;
• mating period in females and males;
• forced diet, compiled by a doctor.

Determining whether a pet has obesity is not difficult.Place the animal confidently on its paws and properly palpate the sternum and abdominal cavity: the ribs and maslaki should be properly palpable, and the muscular relief should be noticeable. Already with mild obesity, the frequency of feeding should be reduced to 1-2 times a day, increase physical activity and reduce the volume of servings. Otherwise, there may be serious complications for the organism - pathologies of the cardiovascular system and the musculoskeletal system, diseases of the endocrine nature.

In drawing up the feeding, be guided not only by dry facts and figures, but also by the individual characteristics of your pet.

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